- Title
- Intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing the risk of running-related injury in recreational runners
- Creator
- Peterson, Benjamin John
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Running-related injury (RRI) is highly prevalent in recreational runners and has a detrimental impact on their physical and mental health and often results in them discontinuing running indefinitely. While there is common agreement that the aetiology of RRI is multifactorial, the risk factors involved and their relative contribution remains unclear. This thesis provides an investigation into the intrinsic and extrinsic factors which influence a recreational runners’ risk of running-related injury (RRI). Initially, by systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies, we identified that musculoskeletal and biomechanical measures are not consistently supported as risk factors for RRI in non-elite runners. Exceptions to this included statistically significant associations between both knee extension strength and hip adduction velocity, which do not appear to be of clinical importance based on their effect size. Next, we conducted a retrospective study into the prevalence of self-reported RRI and its associated characteristics (demographic, training, and footwear characteristics, and musculoskeletal assessment results). This study indicated that weekly running volume and number of weekly sessions were greater in those with a recent history of self-reported RRI, and those with restrictions of range of motion at the first metatarsophalangeal joint and of hip internal rotation, were at a higher odds of having recently been injured. Following this, we performed a prospective study which investigated the relationship between commonly used clinical musculoskeletal measurements and the incidence of RRI over a 12-month follow-up period. In total, 114 runners completed this study, and similar to our systematic review, musculoskeletal measurements were not associated with an increased risk of subsequent RRI. However, this study did concur with current evidence that previous injury is a risk factor for subsequent injury. After finding limited support for the role of musculoskeletal and clinical measures for predicting RRI, we attempted another approach to elucidate other potentially important risk factors. Here, we conducted focus groups of male recreational runners, where we investigated their perceptions about the most important risk factors for RRI, and their strategies for injury management. These focus groups were qualitatively analysed by way of reflexive thematic analysis. Through this process, we proposed a new perceptual model for the risk factors for RRI ‘The Internal Locus of Injury’, which expressed a belief among runners that avoidance of injury lies within their personal control. Regardless of the risk of injury, running as a physical activity maintains its high level of popularity. The final study looked at possible reasons for this through a systematic review of the health and social benefits of participation in a community running event (parkrun). It found positive outcomes for a number of physical and psychological measurements including weight management, increasing physical activity levels, wellbeing, mood and stress. The investigations undertaken in this thesis have highlighted that there is very limited support for the role of biomechanical and clinical musculoskeletal measures as risk factors for RRI. This was consistent through a systematic review as well as the retrospective and prospective studies of recreational runners conducted in this thesis. Research efforts aimed at reducing the risk of RRI cannot be confidently directed at addressing biomechanical and musculoskeletal measures alone.
- Subject
- running-related injury; biomechanics; podiatry; risk factor; systematic review; sports medicine
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1508772
- Identifier
- uon:56153
- Rights
- Copyright 2022 Benjamin John Peterson
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 279 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |